Warriors of Chaos Timeline
The greater part of the history of Chaos is recorded by Men, Dwarfs, and especially Elves. These records read as a long tale of woe punctuated occasionally by bitter victories won at great cost. It is a story of great wars and the destruction of nations, the slaughter of countless innocents and the corruption of the land, for many times have the forces of Chaos brought the world to the brink of destruction. The history of specific Champions of Chaos are usually translations of the exploits engraved on the great monoliths of the north, gravestones their followers erect when their masters die or become Daemon Princes. It is a custom within the Chaos warbands to erect these monoliths, and several brave or foolhardy scholars of the Empire have travelled northward to seek them out, returning with translations of the heretical texts daubed or chiselled upon them. The following contains a list of events related to the Warriors of Chaos, using the Imperial Calendar. Time of Woes *c.-5600 -- The Great Cataclysm. The polar gates collapse and Chaos enters the world. Daemonic hordes run rampant across the lands and many primitive tribes of Men make alliances with the unholy invaders. Thus were the first Warriors of Chaos born, and civilisations were humbled before their mighty onslaught. *-4420 -- The Elves of Ulthuan complete the Great Vortex that drains much Chaos energy from the world. The Daemon hordes are banished and the Realm of Chaos retreats to the poles of the world, where it pulses like a malignant wound. *c.-4300 -- Dwarfs journey across the barren uplands north of the Worlds Edge Mountains which they name 'Zorn Uzkul', meaning 'the Great Skull Land'. It is named after the massed skeletons of the beasts that gore there to die - the plains are carpeted with ivory and towering mounds of bone. *c.-4000 -- Contact is lost between the Dwarfs of the Worlds Edge Mountains and the Dwarf settlements in Zorn Uzkul. The western Dwarfs believe the easterners have perished on their expedition. The eastern Dwarfs, forsaken by their peers and their gods alike, turn to the worship of the god Hashut, Father of Darkness. The first citadels of the Chaos Dwarfs are raised in the desolate foothills known today as the Dark Lands. *-1860 -- A sunken pyramid rises from the depths of the ocean directly underneath the wayward fleet of the seafarer Lord Valdisson. A great battle is fought between the Warriors of Chaos and the city's scaly, web-fingered inhabitants. The day is carried when Valdisson's Sorcerers call down a comet onto the pyramid city. *-1800 -- The Dragon Emperor unites the entire civilisation of Grand Cathay in a great task that is to change the destiny of his nation forever. The Great Bastion, also known as the Dragon's Spine, is completed in under a century - an impenetrable fortress wall, a quarter of a mile high, that spans league upon league across the border of Cathay protects itself from Chaos invasion. *c.-1667-167 -- The Battle of Despair. A great armada of Chaos warships fights past the leviathans that guard the coast of Naggaroth, and hordes of iron-clad warriors make landing upon the Witch King's shores. The tower of Ghrond is besieged, and Naggarond itself is only saved when the Witch King himself enters the fray with a score of Black Dragon riders. The warbands of Chaos continue to prey upon the realm of Naggaroth for many centuries to come, until the Witch King Malekith, orders the construction of a series of jagged watchtowers to guard against their bloody incursions. *-1666 -- The Worlds Edge Mountains are riven by earthquakes, sending much of the Dwarf empire into jeopardy. Sections of the Great Bastion collapse, allowing rampaging northern tribes to spill into Cathay. *-1200 -- The cult of Chi'an Chi (known to the mortals of the Old World as Tzeentch) gains favour amongst the aristocracy of Beichai in far Cathay. *-1002 -- The Ogre tribe of Black Gut joins forces with Lord Dletch the Merciless as he marches through their lands. The agreed wage is one human per day per Ogre, an arrangement that quickly weeds the weak from the strong in Dletch's armies. *c.-830 -- Arbaal the Undefeated, the Destroyer of Khorne, is tired of finding no foes worthy to face him in the mortal world, and rides into the Plain of Skulls to challenge Khorne himself. *-122 -- Ghular Festerhand ravages Loren Forest; the huge swarms of flies that precede his advance impede the sharp-shooting Wood Elf defenders. *1 -- Sigmar is crowned Emperor. The creation of a new Empire of Man opens up a new age for not only the human tribes, but also the Dwarfs who help them on the path to true civilisation. *211 -- The Northern hordes attack the kingdom of the Witch King. The royal army of Malekith marches against Chaos before it can penetrate too deeply into the heartland of Naggaroth. *455 -- ''Battle of Black Lake''. A Dwarf column is attacked on a narrow road along the edge of the freezing Black Lake. The Dwarfs are defeated and their King killed when dozens of Forsaken break out from under the ice floes and tear into the Dwarf centre. *666 -- Morrslieb's erratic orbit takes it closer to the surface of the world than ever before. Waves of madness and hysteria flow across the lands, and the armies of Chaos march unopposed under the sickly green moonlight. *756 -- The Hellstriders of Sharliss the Damned dart through the trees of the Bloodgrove Forest and fall upon the warherd of Graknor Manrender with flashing blows too quick for the eye to see. Within the hour, over four thousand Beastmen have been skinned alive and nailed to the surrounding trees and herdstones, their howls of agony sending Sharliss' warriors into a blissful state of delirium. *888 -- Losteriksson sails across the ocean and makes anchor on the mangrove-lined shores of Lustria. *954 -- The War in the New World. Champions from the coastal settlement of Skeggi sail back to their homelands, only returning to Lustria when they have gathered a great army of raiders. As the conflict intensifies, more and more Warriors of Chaos set sail, seeking glory as much as gold. *955 -- The Battle of Ostwald Moor. A Chaos army of unprecedented size is engaged by the combined military might of Ostwald, Nordland and Hochland. Though the invasion is stopped, the death toll is so great that mounds of bone still jut out of the moor, serving as grisly landmarks to this day. *1000 -- The great Chaos citadels of Infernius and Black Rock are built in the Chaos Wastes. *1119 -- Gharad the Ox duels the hated Elector Count Wulfgang von Greihardt at Maulwurfbad and takes his victim's skull as a drinking vessel. During the duel, Gharad is astounded to be cheered on by the women of the township. Obscurely pleased, he leaves the town intact. *1393 -- The War for Karak Ghulg. Valkia the Bloody falls upon the northernmost Dwarf stronghold. One by one, the Dwarf positions are overrun by Valkia's army of violent madmen, the shield-lines of the mountain folk smashed asunder by the charges of Blood Reaper Knights and Chaos Warriors. Valkia orders her followers to open the fallen defenders' rib cages in a grotesque practice known as the bloodraven. Khorne is mightily impressed with Valkia's gory deeds and he names her as his mortal consort. *1412 -- The Skaven of Clan Mors and Vygo Thrice-Tainted join forces to sack the Empire city of Vogelstraushof. Half of the city collapses into the Skaven tunnels honeycombing its underside, and in the ensuing confusion the Skaven fall upon their Chaos allies and claim the city for themselves. *1453 -- As the warband of Ragnar Painbringer advances upon the Forest of Sighs, the trees come alive and attack the Chaos battle host. Hundreds of Wood Elves emerge from the forest, felling swathes of fur-clad barbarians and mutant hounds in vast volleys of bowfire. Ragnar crushes the defenders when he orders scores of his scythed heavy chariots to the fore, pulled by snorting steeds and hulking Gorebeasts. Against this assault, the Wood Elves are trampled to bloody smears, and the walking trees are smashed to matchwood. *1715 -- Kastragar, Champion of Khorne, attacks the Goblins in the labyrinthine warrens of Gnashrak's Lair. After slaughtering every single Goblin in the stronghold with his bare hands, he reaches his destiny as a Daemon Prince. *1720 -- The Banner of the Gods is forged from daemonbone in the sulpher-choked depths of Zharr Naggrund. *1722 -- Egarl Bloodhard quickly grows tired of besieging Zorastra, the great warf of Tilea. Plague-ridden meat is fed to the seabirds who nest in the seaborne city. The resultant outbreak of disease sees the city's chain-gates dropped by refugee ships attempting to flee, allowing the murderous Chaos fleet to sail in. Zorastra falls within the hour. *1730 -- The rogue wizard Malofex brings a firestorm down onto the glacier that holds Kholek Suneater in his dormant state. The glacier, originally summoned by the most powerful High Elf mages of their age to imprison the great Dragon Ogre Shaggoth, begins to melt. Kholek Suneater breaks free into the world once again, to resume his rampage of destruction. *1760 -- The monolith of Lothar Bubonicus, Flylord of Nurgle, is uncovered under a mound of moss-covered skeletons. It tells of a great champion who slew many rivals with his daemonsword Plaguebiter and ascended to become the Daemon Prince Ghur'urgh bu'yue. *1814 -- A Skaven horde from Hell Pit emerges to loot warpstone from the Northern Wastes, bringing with them hordes of Rat Ogres and other, more horrifying, creations. The vile ratmen are butchered one and all as the warband of Decasor, Champion of Nurgle, falls upon them, his maggot-chewed chariots carving through the enemy ranks, and his trio of Manticores ripping the monstrous abominations of the Skaven horde to shreds. *1846 -- The Chaos Dragon Galrauch is awakened by a great battle being fought outside his lair between Orcs and the tribes of the Hung. He visits his rage on all present, killing no fewer than six Wyverns sent to slay him in aerial combat. *2006-2007 -- The Battle of Lamentations. A vast Plague Fleet, so foul that it leaves the sea black in its wake, makes anchor off Bretonnia. Led by the Chaos Lord Kharan the Blighted, the legions of Khorne and Nurgle defeat the Knights of Couronne and lay siege to that city. Repanse de Lyonesse, the Damoiselle de Guerre slays Lord Kharan in single combat, and his army soon scatters. *2099 -- Aekold Helbrass, Champion of Tzeentch, seeks out the legendary forge known as the Volcano's Heart. His path across the blasted Chaos Wastes is to this day marked by the trail of unnatural vegetation that sprung up in his wake. *2211 -- Hans Grunsson, the greatest preacher and orator in the Old World, travels north to conver the tribes-people to the true faith of Sigmar. He is eaten by a Chaos Troll. *2240 -- The saga of Werner Thunderfist is deciphered, a lengthy telling of the Champion of Tzeentch's many mutations and ultimate ascendancy. During translation, the speaking of the Daemon Prince's true name draws his attention, and the resultant magical fire burns the town of Tzindlerstadt to the ground. *2271 -- The Battle of the Vultures. Valgar the Butcher leads his warband to the deserts of Khemri to raid the tombs of ancient kings. The Chaos horde is ambushed on its return by Settra the Imperishable. Barely a dozen Marauders make it back to Norsca, bloodied, yet rich beyond their wildest dreams. *2281-2286 -- The War of Sand and Snow. Settra leads his armies north, and skeletal legions clash with iron-clad warriors across snow-drifts and frozen glaciers until the dead have reclaimed every last gold coin. *2298 -- The merciless raider Scyla Anfingrimm is brought to battle by an army of vengeful dispossessed villagers. However, Scyla is victorious and takes the corpses of his foes as trophies, tying them to the prows of his longships as grotesque figureheads. *2302-2303 -- The Great Invasion. Countless Chaos warbands unite under the banner of Asavar Kul, and a great portion of Kislev and the Empire is ground under the heel of the Ruinous Powers. The city of Praag falls to a bitter siege and is twisted into a hellish city of Chaos. Kul's rampage is only stopped as the armies of the Old World, led by Magnus the Pious, defeat the Chaos Warlord at the ''Battle of Kislev's Gate''. *2302-2390 -- War in the Mountains. Valmir Aesling marshals his host at the Dwarfen hold of Kraka Drak. Unable to halt the march of the Chaos Warriors, King Silverbeard is forced to fell the mountain itself to prevent Valmir from invading other Dwarf holds. The ensuing avalanche buries Kraka Drak, and all within, beneath millions of tones of rock, entombing Valmir and his warriors inside the stronghold with the Dwarfs. Though it takes decades of bitter fighting Valmir succeeds in slaughtering every last Dwarf in the doomed hold. *2370 -- The Chaos Warriors of Brass Keep repel an Empire army attempting to root them out of the Middle Mountains. The Empire's artillery falls silent when Chimerae fall upon the crews and tear them to ribbons. With the artillery destroyed, the doors of Brass Keep grind open and a tide of frenzied warriors charge out, butchering the Empire's soldiers to a man. *2374 -- Sigvald's Folly. *c.2417 -- Whilst hunting the Bonegrinder Giant, Maulgrong, Borkill the Bloody-handed finds the Chalice of Chaos at the base of a jet-black monolith. As he drinks from the cup, Maulgrong attacks, but the vile liquid causes Borkhill's body to swell with unholy power, granting him the strength to best his monstrous foe. *c.2420 -- Archaon emerges from the Altar of Ultimate Darkness in Naggaroth, slick with the blood of the slain and with the Mark of Chaos burning fiercely upon his brow. *2457 -- Egrimm van Horstmann, High Luminary of the College of Light Magic, is finally beguiled by the whispered promises of Tzeentch. Van Horstmann sells his allegiance to Chaos and frees the Chaos Dragon Baudros from his magical prison. *2480 -- The Spawn Tide. Lord Festerlung Champion of Nurgle, forms an alliance with Vilitch the Curseling and their two warbands journey into the Mountains of Mourn. They fall upon the Iron-Eye Ogre tribe but are almost destroyed as a rampaging Stonehorn tramples scores of warriors underfoot. Vilitch unleashes a great spell that mutates Festerlung and all of his followers to gibbering Spawn in the blink of eye. A tide of fangs and twisted limbs rip both the Stonehorn and the Iron-Eye tribe to ribbons before they disperse into the mountains. *2490 -- The Necromancer Hela Half-dead leads a horde of shambling corpses into Troll Country, slaughtering every living thing she finds. Hela’s horde is eventually intercepted and torn to pieces by Throgg and an army of Trolls. *2497 -- The War in the Dark. Devotees of Nurgle infiltrate the warpstone mines of the Vampire Pietr Von Carstein by covering themselves with the cargo of Von Carstein's corpse-carts. The ensuing violence causes a rockslide that seals dead and living alike inside the mines. *2498 -- After consulting the Skull of Katam, Egrimm van Horstmann attempts to fuse the sorcerous powers of his chosen cabal with the unholy resilience of Trolls, but his magicks go awry. Egrimm is forced to flee the Citadel of Sorcerers as the newly created breed of Trolls that vomit pure magic run amok, devouring all of the acolytes and apprentices with ravenous hunger. *2502 -- Erik Redaxe invades the coast of Chrace and Cothique. His longships are smashed to kindling by the pale-skinned Merwyrms that prowl Ulthuan's coast, trapping Redaxe between the Elves and the merciless ocean. *2509-2511 -- The Onslaught of the Maggot Lord. Tamurkhan the Maggot Lord, body-thief and favoured of Nurgle, leads a mighty incursion of Chaos in a great scything arc down the Mountains of Mourn and sweeping across the Dark Lands, laying all desolate in his wake. With the Chaos Dwarfs and a horde of nightmarish beasts as his allies, he lays waste to the Border Princes and strikes at the Empire’s underbelly. *c.2513 -- The plan of the Skaven Master Moulder, Throt the Unclean, to capture a Mutalith Vortex Beast is thwarted when his army of Rat Ogres approaches the beast and are mutated into piles of black-bodied worms and pulsing eyeballs. *2515 -- Slaughter at Volganof. With a tempest from the Realm of Chaos blowing at his back, Lord Mortkin, the Black-iron Reaver, marches south at the head of warriors beyond count — armoured barbarians, fur-clad Marauders, immortal Daemons, and hulking mutated monstrosities — all united under the banner of the Fell Legion. Mortkin's horde sweeps through Kislev and Ostland and the city of Volganof is burned to the ground. *c.2515 -- Vilitch the Curseling incinerates Tzeskagrad with balefire, the Sorcerer’s laughter infecting even those who are caught in the flames. *2516 -- The son of Aldebrand Ludenhof, Elector Count of Hochland, falls sick to a mysterious illness. He is treated by a cloaked doctor who instructs him to drink a potion should the symptoms return. Upon drinking the tainted elixir, he is transformed into a hideous mutant that slaughters a dozen of the Count's most trusted advisors before sloping off to the north to obey its new master, Festus the Leechlord. *2517 -- Throgg, the Troll King gathers together the monsters of the north and begins his war against the civilised world. *2518 -- Prince Sigvald the Magnificent has the Bretonnian township of Chamburg razed because the wine it produced was not to his taste. *2519 -- Wulfrik the Wanderer boasts that he is the mightiest warrior to have ever drawn breath, and he is cursed to roam the world for all eternity to prove his claim. *c.2519 -- The Daemon Prince Be'lakor presides over Archaon's blasphemous coronation in the heart of the Chaos Wastes. *2520 -- The Siege of Middendorf. Festus the Leechlord continues to blight the Empire with his dark experiments, unleashing a strain of Eyeslime Fever so virulent that the death it causes allows a horde of Daemons to manifest within the Empire, laying siege to the city of Middendorf. *2521 -- Aelfric Cyenwulf and Warlord Surtha Lenk lead their hordes against the armies of Kislev, sacking many settlements, including the stanitsa of Ramaejk and the Imperial town of Wolfenburg. Come Ulriczeit, the city of Erengrad will be sacked, with Cyenwulf's plan being to move south in the spring of next year, his armies following the line of the Worlds Edge Mountains, skirting Praag before turning west towards Urszebya. Also in this year, Vashnaar the Tormentor launches his great raid into northern Lustria, eager to claim the heart of a Slann and offer it up in sacrifice to the name of his dark patron. *2522 -- Archaon the Everchosen, Lord of the End Times, musters an army of Chaos larger than any that has gone before. The combined horde marches against the armies of the Old World. Source * : Warhammer Armies: Warriors of Chaos (8th Edition) ** : pg. 14 ** : pg. 15 * : Warhammer Armies: Warriors of Chaos (7th Edition) ** : pg. 38 ** : pg. 39 ** : pg. 40 * : The Ambassador (novel) by Graham McNeill ** : Chapter 5 * : Ursun's Teeth (novel) by Graham McNeill ** : Chapter 3 ** : Chapter 5 Category:Timelines Category:Warriors of Chaos Category:C Category:T Category:W